bits and pieces
Step 1: Take one third of a drop of poison
Step 2: Dilute the poison with all of the water on earth. Sell sips of ocean water.
Step 3: Profit!
I want to be clear that homeopathic medicine has a specific meaning that is separate from other non-mainstream medical treatments, such as using herbs or massage. I have no argument with using herbs or massage. But homeopathy is quackery, pure and simple. I'm disturbed at the willingness of those on the farm to believe in the efficacy of homeopathic remedies. There's a deep mistrust of the medical establishment and while I don't think that modern medicine and the FDA always have our best interests at heart, I do place a certain amount of faith in scientific evidence. I plan to combat ticks and Lyme disease with something other than water.
I planted some seeds in cell trays a few weeks ago and they've all started to germinate. Sweet corn, edamame, Job's tears, yellow pear and Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes (cherry tomatoes), basil, and Blackeyed Susans (supposed to help keep deer away). There are a few other things I haven't gotten around to starting yet, including hot peppers and some flowers. I've grown tomatoes and basil before, but the rest are new to me. It's so cool to see those little seeds turn into healthy little green plants. X and I put up a sad little fence around part of the garden today, to protect the corn and edamame that will eventually be planted there. Sad because we were using rusted chicken wire and bamboo stakes that were about 3 feet shorter than we wanted. Right now the fence would probably keep out a tumbleweed, if the tumbleweed was particularly stupid. We will continue to improve on the fence.
I've been thinking recently about how my move to the farm has affected me physically. I'm definitely stronger, and I think I've gained a little weight but feel healthier than I did before. My skin is happier than it's been in years. I still end days with sore muscles, but I recover more quickly than I did at first. On the negative side, I've spent quite a lot of time being sick (though I'm not sick currently). I'm not sure whether this means my immune system is weaker, or just that I'm exposed to lots of germs from the girls. In DC I used to take the bus to work every day and just encounter more people in general, but rarely got sick, so I guess I'm leaning towards the immune system explanation, which puzzles me. Another unwelcome development is what Google searches tells me is some sort of rheumatism in the fingers of my right hand. This developed after several days of weeding around trees using hand tools that were heavier and had thicker handles than I found comfortable. I thought it would get better with time, but ever since then, I wake up in the mornings unable to curl the fingers of my right hand without lots of pain. It goes away within 10 minutes of getting out of bed. I'm kind of afraid to consult a doctor because of the really high deductible on my health insurance. One doctor visit might be manageable, but if it leads to seeing specialists, or buying prescriptions, it could get pretty expensive pretty quickly.
In general though, I'm doing okay financially. I take home a little over $900 per month, but I don't have to pay rent, water, gas, or electric. I still have to pay my cell phone bill ($40) and fill up my gas tank to get into town to go grocery shopping or use the internet. I think my grocery bill may have actually increased since moving here, since I try to be more conscious about buying organic. However, I'm never tempted to go out for lunch, which I did often in DC, so it probably evens out.
I made some surprisingly good vegan spanikopita last week for lunch (surprising because I love feta cheese and butter and eggs). To replace the cheese, I mixed up some crumbled extra-firm tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, chopped walnuts, nutmeg, thyme, and lemon juice.
And then I made some quiche for myself, which I will never ever try to make vegan because after replacing butter, cream, cheese, and eggs, all that's left is, like, flour and onions.
Granola! I've been eating granola pretty much every morning, because other cold cereal leaves me hungry before lunchtime. But granola is kind of expensive, and comes in small boxes. So I started making it myself. Why did I not know how easy this is? I thought it was a multi-hour process or something, but no, it's like 45 minutes from start to finish. It's still not that cheap--rolled oats alone are about $1 a pound, but then I add honey, pecans, sesame seeds, and dried cranberries. But it's so good.
Step 2: Dilute the poison with all of the water on earth. Sell sips of ocean water.
Step 3: Profit!
I want to be clear that homeopathic medicine has a specific meaning that is separate from other non-mainstream medical treatments, such as using herbs or massage. I have no argument with using herbs or massage. But homeopathy is quackery, pure and simple. I'm disturbed at the willingness of those on the farm to believe in the efficacy of homeopathic remedies. There's a deep mistrust of the medical establishment and while I don't think that modern medicine and the FDA always have our best interests at heart, I do place a certain amount of faith in scientific evidence. I plan to combat ticks and Lyme disease with something other than water.
I planted some seeds in cell trays a few weeks ago and they've all started to germinate. Sweet corn, edamame, Job's tears, yellow pear and Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes (cherry tomatoes), basil, and Blackeyed Susans (supposed to help keep deer away). There are a few other things I haven't gotten around to starting yet, including hot peppers and some flowers. I've grown tomatoes and basil before, but the rest are new to me. It's so cool to see those little seeds turn into healthy little green plants. X and I put up a sad little fence around part of the garden today, to protect the corn and edamame that will eventually be planted there. Sad because we were using rusted chicken wire and bamboo stakes that were about 3 feet shorter than we wanted. Right now the fence would probably keep out a tumbleweed, if the tumbleweed was particularly stupid. We will continue to improve on the fence.
I've been thinking recently about how my move to the farm has affected me physically. I'm definitely stronger, and I think I've gained a little weight but feel healthier than I did before. My skin is happier than it's been in years. I still end days with sore muscles, but I recover more quickly than I did at first. On the negative side, I've spent quite a lot of time being sick (though I'm not sick currently). I'm not sure whether this means my immune system is weaker, or just that I'm exposed to lots of germs from the girls. In DC I used to take the bus to work every day and just encounter more people in general, but rarely got sick, so I guess I'm leaning towards the immune system explanation, which puzzles me. Another unwelcome development is what Google searches tells me is some sort of rheumatism in the fingers of my right hand. This developed after several days of weeding around trees using hand tools that were heavier and had thicker handles than I found comfortable. I thought it would get better with time, but ever since then, I wake up in the mornings unable to curl the fingers of my right hand without lots of pain. It goes away within 10 minutes of getting out of bed. I'm kind of afraid to consult a doctor because of the really high deductible on my health insurance. One doctor visit might be manageable, but if it leads to seeing specialists, or buying prescriptions, it could get pretty expensive pretty quickly.
In general though, I'm doing okay financially. I take home a little over $900 per month, but I don't have to pay rent, water, gas, or electric. I still have to pay my cell phone bill ($40) and fill up my gas tank to get into town to go grocery shopping or use the internet. I think my grocery bill may have actually increased since moving here, since I try to be more conscious about buying organic. However, I'm never tempted to go out for lunch, which I did often in DC, so it probably evens out.
I made some surprisingly good vegan spanikopita last week for lunch (surprising because I love feta cheese and butter and eggs). To replace the cheese, I mixed up some crumbled extra-firm tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, chopped walnuts, nutmeg, thyme, and lemon juice.
And then I made some quiche for myself, which I will never ever try to make vegan because after replacing butter, cream, cheese, and eggs, all that's left is, like, flour and onions.
Granola! I've been eating granola pretty much every morning, because other cold cereal leaves me hungry before lunchtime. But granola is kind of expensive, and comes in small boxes. So I started making it myself. Why did I not know how easy this is? I thought it was a multi-hour process or something, but no, it's like 45 minutes from start to finish. It's still not that cheap--rolled oats alone are about $1 a pound, but then I add honey, pecans, sesame seeds, and dried cranberries. But it's so good.
Comments
When my "freak-outs" started getting particularly bad while transitioning on and off of a particular drug, my mom grabbed this stuff called "Chill Out," or something like that, at the natural remedy store. Spray it on your tongue when you feel like you're losing control.
The weird thing? I'm a total non believer, and it still worked. Like splashing water on my face...totally snapped me out of a downward spiral. Kinda freaky, actually.
I have two theories. One: it jumpstarted whatever chemical reaction is supposed to be triggered by crying and obviously wasn't, and got me to snap out of it. Two: it's the same chemical released by momma animals that chill out their babies and help them to nurse (which is something else I buy to give the dog). My theories might be two parts of one answer.
I'm still a skeptic...but not as skeptical as before.
On the other hand? Dino is totally on Frontline. There's a big difference in my book between temporary inconveniences and FLEAS.